Steig Larsson

Director Niels Arden Oplev would probably defend his version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as “an unflinching look beneath the placid surface of Swedish society,” or something like that, but what he has made from the source novel of the same name instead brings to mind the book’s original title, Men Who Hate Women. Even if the intent was to expose lurking (or outright) misogyny, and even if at least one rape is satisfyingly avenged, the cumulative result smacks of a certain relish, a super-sadism fest of a movie – none of the mutuality of consenting S/M here – that titillates far more than critiques.